THE COLD WATER OF BYLAW 5-1 (J)

In 1983 the NCAA adopted Proposition 48 and sent word to highschool administrators: You had better start teaching your athletesor they won't be allowed to play when they get to college. Bylaw 5-1(J) -- the designation that 48 was given when it became official --stipulates that entering college athletes have a minimum score of700 on the combined College Board SAT test (or a 15-of-36 score onthe American College Test) and a 2.0 high school grade point averagein 11 core courses. The SAT score can dip to 660 if it's balanced bya higher GPA, and grades as low as 1.8 are acceptable if the SAT isabove 700. Athletes who don't satisfy the criteria must sit out bothcompetition and practice as freshmen. Schools can keep such athleteson scholarship, but the athletes then forfeit a year of eligibility.As SAT scores come rolling in, 5-1 (J) is becoming harsh reality:Dozens of athletes won't be allowed to take part in sports during thecoming school year. Of the 47 football players on Parade magazine'shigh school All- America team, at least eight will be ineligible.Alabama had one of the country's best freshman football classes, butfive of 29 recruits won't play this year. Illinois' blue-chipbasketball recruits, Nick Anderson and Ervin Small, must sit out, asmust Michigan's Rumeal Robinson and Terry Mills. Top Notre Damebasketball recruit Keith Robinson didn't score 700 on his SATs, andneither did John Foley, a linebacker who was one of the hottestprospects in the nation.Notre Dame will allow Robinson and Foley to keep theirscholarships while they try to attain the academic standing that willenable them to play as sophomores. ''It might be better if I don'tplay this year,'' says Foley. ''I've been playing football for 12years. I'll have a chance to rest my body and study.'' But manyschools feel they cannot afford the luxury of letting ineligibleathletes retain their free rides. ''There's no way I can have aplayer getting a scholarship who isn't contributing on the field,''says Eastern Michigan soccer coach Chris Corteg, who lost tworecruits when they failed to meet the requirements. Someathletes, like basketball star Dwayne Davis of Florida, are payingtheir own tuition as freshmen rather than losing a year of NCAAeligibility by accepting a scholarship offer. This practice worriesBill Bradshaw, athletic director at DePaul. ''My fear is that abooster will pay a kid's way under the table for the first year, inorder to guarantee him four years of eligibility,'' he says.Other athletes simply aren't accepting the prospect of sittingout. Kevin Cutler, a 6 ft. 7 in. forward, hoped to play basketballthis year for Cal State-Fullerton but will enroll instead at ArizonaWestern, a junior college not under NCAA jurisdiction. ''The juniorcolleges are getting fat,'' says Jake Caldwell, basketball coach atpowerful Jackson High in Miami.The effects of 5-1 (J) have prompted many to take a second look atthe rule. A primary criticism is that it's ''culturally biased''against blacks and other inner-city youths who struggle withstandardized tests. ''The truth is, 70 percent of all seniorathletes in this city won't qualify,'' says Landon Cox, basketballcoach of Martin Luther King High in Chicago. Foreigners, too, mayhave difficulties with the SAT tests. Torgeir Ekkje, a swimmer fromOslo who will attend Michigan, had a B-plus average in high schoolbut scored only 570 on his combined SATs, in part because he wasn'tused to multiple-choice exams. ''I think there will be a definitecutback on foreign athletes coming to the States,'' says Michigancoach Jon Urbanchek, a Hungarian refugee who himself swam for theWolverines in the early '60s.Another argument maintains that 5-1 (J) sets absolute admissionsstandards that might be at odds with a school's academicphilosophy. Notre Dame, for instance, has a history of educating andgraduating its chosen athletes; why is the NCAA interfering with thecollege's tradition of success?But not every school is Notre Dame, and many educators feelsomething must finally be done about the hypocrisy rampant in thearea of educating athletes. Some coaches feel that way, too. ''TerryMills is just now beginning to understand why education is soimportant,'' says Al Wilkerson, Mills's coach for four years atRomulus (Mich.) High.''For the first time in their lives, somebody's taking the ballaway and saying, 'You can't compete until you get your grades up,' ''says Bradshaw. ''It's a glass of cold water in their faces.''

Before he became the premier postseason performer of his generation, the Patriots icon was a middling college quarterback who invited skepticism, even scorn, from fans and his coaches. That was all—and that was everything